Hydraulic Fracturing-induced Seismicity at the Hot Dry Rock Site of the Gonghe Basin in China
中国共和盆地干热岩现场水力压裂诱发地震
中国の共和盆地の高温岩体地熱による水圧破砕による地震活動
중국 Gonghe 분지의 열건조암반 수압파쇄 지진
Sismicidad inducida por fracturación hidráulica en el sitio de roca seca y caliente de la cuenca de Gonghe en China
Sismicité induite par la fracturation hydraulique sur le site de roches sèches chaudes du bassin de Gonghe en Chine
Сейсмичность, вызванная гидроразрывом пласта, на участке горячих сухих скал в бассейне Гунхэ в Китае
¹ College of Instrumentation & Electrical Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130026, China
中国 长春 吉林大学仪器科学与电气工程学院
² Key Lab of Geo-Exploration Instrumentation of the Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun 130026, China
中国 长春 吉林大学地球信息探测仪器教育部重点实验室
³ Center for Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, China Geological Survey, Baoding, Hebei 071000, China
中国 河北 保定 中国地质调查局水文地质环境地质调查中心
Hot dry rock is becoming an important clean energy source. Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) hold great promise for the potential to make a contribution to the energy inventory. However, one controversial issue associated with EGS is the impact of induced seismicity.
In August 2019, a hydraulic stimulation experiment took place at the hot dry rock site of the Gonghe Basin in Qinghai, China. Earthquakes of different magnitudes of 2 or less occurred during the hydraulic stimulation. Correlations between hydraulic stimulation and seismic risk are still under discussion. Here, we analyze the hydraulic stimulation test and microseismic activity. We quantify the evolution of several parameters to explore the correlations between hydraulic stimulation and induced seismicity, including hydraulic parameters, microseismic events, b-value and statistical forecasting of event magnitudes.
The results show that large-magnitude microseismic events have an upward trend with an increase of the total fluid volume. The variation of the b-value with time indicates that the stimulation experiment induces small amounts of seismicity. Forecasted magnitudes of events can guide operational decisions with respect to induced seismicity during hydraulic fracturing operations, thus providing the basis for risk assessment of hot dry rock exploitation.
